Quote:
Originally Posted by Aimee
Sigh. Are we still arguing about this? Agree with it or not, the fact is that many women often do not feel comfortable playing at poker tables. Some of the issue is just the overall intimidation factor of playing at a live table, and some of it is the fear (real or perceived) of being criticized, picked on, hit on, or otherwise made to feel uncomfortable at the table. Every female poker player has uncomfortable stories regarding this. If there's a way to get more women (and thus, more people) in general to play and to feel more comfortable in the future, then perhaps they get over that initial intimidation and become regular players. Eh, you are correct that it doesn't happen often. But when it does happen, it can turn a person off to the game pretty quickly, especially when they're new. It's not about whether women can compete with men and anyone who is looking at this way is not seeing the bigger picture imo.
I know that those things happen. But this isn't 1960. Women now compete in sports just as avidly as men. Presumbly they are pushed hard by their coaches, and yelled at by those coaches just as often as men. I have a hard time believing, for example, that a woman who has played rugby would be intimidated by some jerk hitting on her at a poker table.
In fact, in intellectual pursuits (which poker certainly is) women are dominatiing men. More women than men graduate from US high schools and US colleges. They also go to both law school and medical schools in larger numbers than men.
The days when the big strong man was the breadwinner and took care of the "little woman" are gone. I will be thrilled if any of my granddaugthters follow in the steps of their father and grandfather and join the army when they are old enough.
This is 2013, where the young wife is on a partnership track at a law firm, and her husband either has a lower-paying (and less competitive) job, or he stays home full-time and takes care of the kids.
Anyone who has watched poker on TV even a few times knows that players try to intimidate their opponents (Hellmuth's name-calling, the Ivey stare, Tony G. yelling at an amateur player with pictures of his children at the table, "I WILL TAKE ALL YOUR MONEY AND YOUR CHILDREN WILL STARVE!"
I remember a couple years ago when I had a discussion with a small group of college students, both men and women. The subject turned to sex, and I said something about a man taking advantage of a woman who is drunk in a bar.
Several of the women vehemently objected to the term "taking advantage", and said that women in that case are usually drinking to "get their courage up," and they know exactly what they're doing.
Try telling one of those women that someone needs to protect her at the poker table.
I guess what I'm saying that it's time to stop protecting women, unless they are in physical danger. In 2013, there's no crying in poker.